Off-season

by Cloud Ring

Chapter ten, in which Piercing Strike tries to be more open, and Starlight helps her as much as she can

The dim sun reflected in the puddles after the rain; the water had not yet flowed down the well-calibrated slopes. Batponies, sticking close to Starlight, squinted but didn't show any displeasure. They were slowly walking along the paths of one of the many parks in Littlehorn—this one was different from the others in that it was quite securely closed off. Not only by guards, and not only by magic.

"Everything is fine," Starlight remarked. "Canterlot batponies are nocturnal by lifestyle, but they are not afraid of the sun, they don't turn to dust, and they don't sparkle in it. So don't worry. The rhythm will adjust over time."

Piercing Strike smiled, "I had a feeling. Otherwise, it would be too cruel of a joke. I love the sun, and what annoyed me was that..." She hesitated, not immediately finding the words to finish her thought, "In the past, I couldn't stand it. They told me that everything would be okay with this choice. That being a batpony wouldn't ruin anything for me."

"So, you could choose your body," Starlight observed, restraining her judgment. Then she felt that it wasn't enough and stopped to hug Piercing Strike; the batpony gratefully accepted the gesture and froze with a wildly beating heart. Starlight reminded herself that such a pulse was normal for all winged ponies, even the large ones. Piercing Strike was almost as tall as Starlight herself, and that still confused her.

"Yeah," she exhaled.

"And... why a batpony? I thought no pony would ever give up their own race. I've seen something similar only once, and... still, it wasn't a refusal. There was an unicorn who was sure from childhood that he was born into the wrong race. Not your case, right?"

Piercing Strike literally twisted out of the hug—Starlight couldn't even compare it to a gymnastic pirouette; the batpony's body went into a plane, as if splitting Piercing Strike in half, like a dark mirror, and after a second, Piercing was standing with her back to Starlight but exactly in the same place, reversed.

"How did you do that?!" Starlight asked in astonishment.

"They showed me how to do it. They were very friendly. And they weren't afraid that I could see through their eyes—in fact, quite the opposite."

Starlight perked up her ears, "First of all, you still haven't answered how you did it... secondly, you mean they weren't at all alarmed, they nodded and you went on with the stroll. And you never found out their names..."

"Because they opened the way for me," the batpony nodded. "They knew what and how I do it and helped me from their side. And about stepping through the shadow—it's not that hard. You need to look at your own shadow, lift it, and turn it upwards."

"And you don't find that a little strange?" Starlight asked softly. "You, with a rare talent... that wasn't even triggered by the Cutie Mark... I'll check the library later, but off the top of my head, I don't recall anything similar. And exactly four ponies came to your town who... didn't even tell you their names, am I understanding that right?... They did something that made you inhabit them."

"They pulled me from their side," the batpony nodded.

"With no surprise, no fear..."

"Like friends," Piercing Strike said with determination in her voice, "I didn't have many of those."

Starlight lowered her head, "I'm sorry. I don't think you did anything wrong, but... By the way, did the other ponies in this group have their own Cutie Marks?"

"But you're afraid too!" the batpony raised her voice. "They warned me to be cautious and not trust just anyone, or else they'd kill me, or something worse. And what difference does it make if they had Cutie Marks or not?"

"Changelings..." Starlight made a facehoof and distracted herself by splashing her face in the fountain. She shouldn't have shown how much it bothered her—even after all the efforts and after freeing the Queen, changelings still remained wary and untrusting... Just like you, Starlight remarked to herself.

The batpony tugged at her tail, not strongly, but persistently, with unacquaintedly sharp teeth.

"They weren't changelings. They let me try out all the bodies one by one, make my choice, and..." Piercing Strike squinted, "...They could take on the appearance of changelings, but they weren't changelings themselves. Didn't Princess Twilight tell you about this? I'm not a changeling, I'm a batpony, so stop even implying it!" She shifted upwards and forwards, marking a sensitive bite on Starlight's rump.

Starlight turned around slowly, forgetting to shake the wetness off her face, sighed, and replied, "I... didn't want to think about something like that—but since you insist, and if they're not changelings—then you live in a stolen body, Piercing Strike. Moreover, it was stolen from a little filly. Moreover, in a way we know nothing about—and it's good if we find her soul in some crystal or amulet."

The place where she was bitten felt like it was sinking with sharp icy needles deep under her skin. It would need treatment...

Piercing sat down on the cobblestones and immediately burst into tears.

"Don't call it that!"

Starlight clenched her lips but didn't apologize or soften her words.

She approached and sat opposite Piercing Strike.

"Whether I use those words or not, that's what happened, and you're involved in this matter—and the more you help us figure it out, the faster we can fix this evil. If we can still fix anything. I'm not blaming you; you're a good pony, and maybe you're just..."

"Just small and stupid, right?" the batpony sharply raised her voice, almost screeching. "You're no better than those other adults!"

Starlight kept silence. She embraced her and let her cry it out; in these twenty minutes, she received far more weak bites and kicks than she would have liked—and yet, just as much as was necessary.

Then Piercing began to speak.